Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Ritual Habitual ❯ First Step ( Chapter 1 )

Evangelion Fanfiction

By Otaku D-Man

Standard Disclaimer.

Does anyone else realise how tedious it is to keep saying it's not mine although I really wish it was? But for the sake of not being dragged into the courts kicking and screaming, here goes.

Shin Seiki Evangelion was/is/will never be mine. If the affiliated companies, owners, creators and distributors feel I have somehow infringed on their property, I will remove all trace of my existence and live the rest of my life as a Yowie somewhere in the outback.

Author's Pre-Rant -

Okay. This is my attempt at a Shinji / Asuka pairing set after the Tenth Angel. In all honesty I think that successfully pulling this off will actually be more difficult than the whole Shinji / Rei scenario I created. Why? Asuka simply has so much emotional and psychological baggage to deal with it will be slow going to peel a lot of that away and somehow still keep her IC

Well, let's see how much I can rock the boat with things.

As established in my previous works -

"Indicates the Spoken Dialogue"

<Implies unspoken thoughts>

Ritual Habitual

First Step - Dinner Is Served

Katsuragi / Ikari / Sohryu Residence

Danger wore many faces in the city of Tokyo-3. Like many major cities around the world, violent crimes still occurred and people died at the hands of brutal, almost inhuman assailants. Unlike any other city though, Tokyo-3 was periodically besieged by huge creatures, dubbed 'Angels' that would appear seemingly from nowhere, seeking to end humanities existence entirely. But none of these were more threatening than that of a certain Evangelion Pilot who found herself at a loose end.

Asuka was bored.

In all of Tokyo-3, perhaps even the world, only a calculating Commander Ikari could be considered more dangerous than a bored Second Children.

Without tests at NERV or Angels to defeat, without anything to prove her superiority, Asuka was at a loss. Hikari was busy with her little sister at what she could only consider to be some sort of godforsaken live performance that undoubtedly involved brightly coloured superhero's valiantly saving the world from badly dressed villains "And Kaji-san's busy doing whatever it is that occupies the great majority of his time." She muttered, idly blowing a stray lock of her long, orange-red tresses from her eyes.

Asuka smirked at this last thought. <At least I know for a fact that Misato's not with him.> The reason for this was her lavender hared slob of a guardian was far too busy filling out the volumes of backlogged paperwork she had 'temporarily' been avoiding since Asuka had come to Japan. Apparently the Sub-Commander had none to gently reminded the Major that she would have it all complete by Monday or else. Asuka had wondered what the 'or else' could actually be, but the implied promise of retribution had obviously been enough to motivate Misato into action.

It was now Sunday afternoon and Misato was still at work furiously coming to grips with the horrors of her momentous task. <Shinji'll probably take dinner into her again.> Asuka thought sarcastically. Both Friday and Saturday night he had taken a specially prepared meal into the older woman. Asuka seriously couldn't see why he even bothered. With how Misato normally consumed her food, it would be a minor miracle if she even tasted it before it was digested.

With her thoughts turning to the timid Third Children, Asuka's piercing sapphire blue eyes drifted over to observe the recently returned youth sitting at the kitchen table. As usual, his ears were plugged with his headphones, obviously listening to his melancholy music while he perused his physics textbook.

As she continued to stare at him, Asuka noticed that his eyes were slightly glazed, as if he wasn't really looking at the pages in front of him. Her suspicions were further confirmed when she noticed his right hand rhythmically clenching into a fist and then releasing. She had recently noticed this odd behaviour becoming more and more prevalent for the quiet boy. While her majors in college were based in the mathematical and scientific fields, she was intelligent enough to recognise a nervous disorder when she saw one.

After another couple of minutes, during which Shinji was still on the same page and still clenching his hand, Asuka decided to uncover the source of her flatmate's apprehension and maybe have a little fun in the process.

Walking over to stand behind him, Asuka smiled in spite of herself. The opportunity was too good to waste. Slamming her palm down on the table, she watched with some amusement as Shinji practically leapt backwards out of his chair and fell against the fridge.

Sitting down in the adjacent seat, Asuka waited, feigning indifference as she watched the boy tentatively rub the back of his head. The glance he directed at her was exactly what she expected.

Resentment tinged with fear and uncertainty. A Shinji Ikari specialty.

"What was that for Asuka?" Shinji asked hesitantly, returning his seat to its proper position. He warily sat down, taking great care to not look Asuka in the eye. He often felt his mental strength, what there was of it, crumble under her intense gaze.

Watching Shinji's eyes briefly meet her own before flickering away, Asuka's own eyes narrowed, mentally closing in on her chosen victim. "I was bored."

"That's it?" Shinji mumbled before falling silent, his feet shifting nervously.

Annoyed that her game was already showing signs of being over, Asuka tried a different tactic to further unsettle her victim and hopefully prolong the fun. "Well Misato did mention I should make up for her not being here." She explained, as if this single statement not only excused her actions, but also endorsed them.

Shinji frowned. Even when Misato wasn't here he was still outnumbered. Pushing his chair in he moved to gather his books and relocate to the sanctity of his room. While he grudgingly put up with Misato's teasing, he at least knew she played her games out of a sense of childlike amusement. Whereas with Asuka, he felt a certain degree of malicious intent was involved.

Realising that her subdued partner was intending to scurry back to his room until dinner, Asuka decided to abandon her game of tormenting Shinji. Instead she opted to try and start something of a real conversation. "Hey Shinji?" <Geez, at least he's better than talking to the penguin.> She argued mentally, trying to convince herself that talking with Shinji was better than nothing. <But only just.>

"Hmmm." Shinji was momentarily caught by the casual, almost friendly tone of Asuka's voice.

"Who was on the phone earlier?" She asked. "You know, before you went out." Asuka knew that he didn't have many acquaintances and had even fewer friends. So for someone to actually call and convince him to leave the apartment had her intrigued. She had even briefly speculated that he had gone on a date with one of the girls from school. <Although with the mood he's in, it obviously failed miserably.> She thought, enjoying the idea of Shinji and his immature little girlfriend enduring a horrendous time together.

Shinji just stared at the girl, his eyes developing a vacant, far away look.

<Interesting.> Asuka mused. Obviously it was someone or something that could make the socially inept boy even more withdrawn. "Well?" Without meaning to, her voice took on an edge that implied it would be in his best interests to answer her.

Shinji's eyes lowered towards the floor, his voice a soft whisper. "It was Touji."

<The Dumb Jock?> Her eyes rolled up, disappointed by the revelation. <Probably needed help finding his way out of a wet paper bag or something> Asuka considered abandoning the conversation right then and there, the mere mention of the boys name had her feeling nauseous. "And what did the low end of the class average want?"

"T….is….s……ter." Shinji mumbled, his words too quiet to hear properly.

"Care to repeat that?" Asuka slowly began tapping her index finger on the table's wooden surface. "I don't speak Mumblese." With her irritation levels fast reaching the red line, it was all she could do to remain calm and composed.

Shifting from one foot to the other, Shinji looked up and over Asuka's shoulder, to stare blankly at the kitchen sink behind her. He focused his attention on the slow drip of the faucet, struggling with the words that were reluctant to vacate his throat. "He asked," He blinked slowly, desperately searching for a way to divert the direction of the conversation, "if I could go visit his little sister with him." His feet began edging towards his room even before he finished his evasive reply.

"Visit his sister?" Asuka snorted at the not-so startling revelation. "What, she obviously has enough sense to live separately from her idiot brother?" Asuka could recall Hikari mentioning something about the monkey having a younger sister, but not much else, and in all honesty she thought she knew more than enough about one Touji Suzuhara.

Shinji's discomfort was rapidly growing. He considered simply bolting for his room, hoping that Asuka had enough civility to not just knock his door down and forcibly extract the information from him, but the more he thought about it, the more he realised how futile the plan was. Breathing deeply he readied himself for the worst. "She's been in hospital for a long time now. It's my fault she's there. I ……" Shinji felt a painful wrenching sensation in his chest. It took all his self-control not to just break down in front of Asuka. He'd do that later, away from prying eyes. Much as he had after the visit earlier in the day. "I hurt her." There. He had said it. Now he just had to wait for Asuka's reaction. The mocking insults, the snide remarks and perhaps a cuff to the back of his head.

It was Asuka's turn to stare. Her eye's widened in surprise at Shinji's pained admission. "Hospital? How could you put anyone in hospital?" She struggled to comprehend how the timid youth could hurt anyone, let alone a little girl that was related to one of his few friends. "You can barely Pilot well enough to fight the Angels."

Shinji nodded his head, agreeing with Asuka's statement. "That's the reason." Stifling a sob, he blinked rapidly, suppressing the tears that were threatening to begin flowing and moved towards the front hallway.

"Where do you think you're going?" Asuka's eyes followed the boy as he disappeared out of sight. "You haven't made dinner yet." Her angry voice lacked some of its usual vigour, the fires doused by the look of absolute despair held within the depths of Shinji's midnight blue eyes.

"I……I'm not really hungry." Shinji's soft voice answered. "I'm just going to go for a walk. I'll be back…….later."

With the sound of the apartment front door opening and then closing, Asuka replayed the conversation in her mind, analysing the body language of her recently departed colleague. "What the hell is his problem?" Glancing around the kitchen, she realised that she was beginning to feel hungry. "And who's going to make dinner?"

***

Streets of Tokyo-3

It felt strange. It was a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon and even though it looked like the general population of Tokyo-3 were out enjoying the day, all Shinji could do was think about the past and all the mistakes he had made, all the pain and suffering he had caused for the people around him.

Sitting on the park bench with his headphones in his ears, his mind simply replayed incident after incident. All the things that had gone wrong were his fault. "Why do I even bother?" He asked himself. He had yet to construct an answer that made any sense.

The memory of how happy Touji's little sister had been to see him was made all the more painful by the way she had struggled to move. It was obvious that even the smallest of movements were causing her some degree of discomfort, but through it all she simply continued to smile and laugh. Shinji had felt his own recent joy and elation at having his father finally acknowledge his existence vanish rapidly in the presence of the brave young girl.

"No wonder Touji's so scared of her." He murmured, recalling Kensuke's offhand remark about how the little girl often berated Touji when he was being stupid. "Mari-chan is so strong, so confident." He rubbed the tears away with the back of his hand. "Everything I can never be." Hunching over even further, he slowly began to cry, desperately trying to remain as quiet and inconspicuous as possible.

***

Katsuragi / Ikari / Sohryu Residence

Sprawled across the couch, Asuka nudged her avian companion with her foot, prompting him to change the channel on the television.

Confused by the unusual level of quiet that had descended upon his home, the warm water penguin hit the remote, surfing the channels for something that would be deemed acceptable by both his standards and the young girl beside him. While he was largely indifferent to the needs of the human creatures that shared his home, he had realised early on that the volatile redhead was not to be taken lightly.

Nudging Penpen again, Asuka inclined her head, indicating that the new station he was on was more to her liking. "I'll see you tomorrow at school Hikari, I've got someone on the other line." With her eyes scrutinizing the television drama, Asuka hit the button to switch to the incoming call. "Hello, you've reached the palatial apartment of Asuka Langley Sohryu and her pathetic servant Shinji Ikari." She couldn't help but add the last part, secretly hoping that it would be the 'pathetic servant' in question on the other end of the line.

Instead of the one she was hoping for, Asuka rolled her eyes when she heard the voice at the other end. "I must have dialled the wrong number." Misato said, the exasperation clearly evident in her voice. "I was looking for 'MY' apartment."

Largely indifferent to the heavy sarcasm, Asuka simply settled back with every intention of enjoying her soap opera. "Misato. What do you want?"

"It's nice to hear from you to Asuka." The Major's voice replied, still laced heavily with sarcasm. "Where's Shinji-kun?" She asked, bypassing the niceties that would mean little to nothing to her most recent family addition.

Asuka shook her head in sheer disbelief at how the woman switched between playfulness and seriousness at the drop of a hat. "The Baka left a while ago.'

"Then why isn't he here yet with my dinner?" Misato's voice suddenly became muffled. "No you can't have any Ritsu-chan, get your own." Asuka arched an eyebrow as she listened to her irresponsible, slovenly guardian argue with the bottle blonde Doctor. "No, Shinji-kun isn't going t make anything for you." Glancing across at Penpen, she shrugged, indicating that she could barely understand the penguin's beer provider at the best of times.

Deciding that she had better things to do than listen to the two old women argue about food, Asuka injected herself back into the senseless dialogue. "Baka Shinji didn't make anything for dinner."

There was a silent pause on the phone. "WHAT?!?" Misato shouted. Her voice loud enough to cause Asuka to hold the earpiece at a distance. "He didn't make my dinner. Why not? ……. Stop laughing Ritsuko…... What did you do to him Asuka?" Misato demanded, her voice now back to its more regular volume.

"Nothing." Asuka replied, slightly offended that she was the blame every single time Shinji decided to throw a hissy fit. "He said something about visiting the dumb jock's little sister and then walked out." The explanation was the only answer she had to give considering it was all Shinji had said before he had walked out.

"Suzuhara-kun's little sister?" Misato's voice suddenly became concerned. "Shit……. Asuka?"

"What now?" Asuka asked, wondering what all the fuss was about.

"I'll get back to you." Misato answered, her voice sounding edgy. "I need to check a few things and no you can't order takeout. Make do with what's in the fridge."

"Leftovers? What the hell is-" Asuka stared at the phone in surprise. "She hung up on me." Slamming the phone back down, the now extremely irritated Pilot of NERV's only Mass Production Model Evangelion walked swiftly to her room. Removing the clothes she wore when just lounging around the apartment, Asuka hastily changed into a fashionable pair of dark slacks and a matching blouse. "That's it. I'm getting to the bottom of this if it kills me." She muttered before stalking out of the apartment to locate the source of the problem.

***

Streets of Tokyo-3

"Ikari."

The softly spoken word grabbed his attention, even through the sound of his music. Lifting his eyes from the earth at his feet and removing the headphones from his ears, Shinji blinked in surprise to find the First Children, Rei Ayanami, standing in front of him. As she often was when outside of NERV's armour plated walls, the azure haired girl was clad in her school uniform. He didn't realise that he was staring until he dimly heard her repeat his name. With his cheeks burning at the impropriety of his actions, Shinji once again cast his eyes to the ground where Rei stood. "What is it Ayanami?" Even though he had known the quiet girl for some time now, he still felt a degree of confusion and uncertainty whenever she spoke to him, as infrequent as those occurrences were.

"Major Katsuragi requested I locate you and notify you of her concerns." Rei stared at the sullen boy. She had only recently completed an arduous synchronisation session with the Dummy System when the seemingly frantic Director of Tactical Operations had asked her to find the Third Children. With the assistance of Section 2, it had not taken long to ascertain his whereabouts and arrange transportation to his location. "She is concerned that you will be late in delivering her evening meal." Pausing momentarily, as if expecting a reply, Rei watched with a degree of apprehension at the Pilot of Unit 01's continued silence. "Doctor Akagi also expressed a desire that you prepare her meal as well.

Shinji began chuckling at the insanity of it all. Here he was, moping as he often did when having to revisit unpleasant memories, when something as simple as his guardian and her best friend both demanding he feed them came along. Finally managing to control his sudden outburst, he looked up to find Rei still watching him, something akin to avid curiosity displayed on her usually stoic features. "And what about you Ayanami?" Shinji asked, wondering if she would continue the almost normal, non-EVA related conversation. "Would you like anything for dinner as well?"

***

"Why am I even bothering?" Asuka berated herself, storming past a group of young men, ignoring their catcalls and whistles. "Because you're hungry Asuka, that's all." She replied to herself, idly flipping her middle finger in response to the perverted suggestions that she join them for some fun. "And Misato will be completely unbearable if she isn't fed properly."

With her eyes scanning a few of her favourite fashion boutiques, reminding herself to return sooner rather than later to try out some of the new clothes, Asuka smirked as she made her way across the street towards the nearby park. "It's times like this that I'm glad we're under constant surveillance." She shook her head at how simple it had been, thinking back to how she had used her NERV issue cell phone to contact Section 2 and demand the location of the Third Children.

"Now he should still be-" Her eye's immediately spotted the almost tangible aura of self-loathing surrounding the boy. "There he is. Like a black cloud of misery on a sunny day. Just you wai-" Asuka's eyes narrowed to thin slits and her hands balled into fists as she noticed who was with him. "Wondergirl." She hissed, her teeth slowly grinding together.

Moving over to stand under a tree, Asuka watched with more than just idle curiosity at the 'friendly' discussion that the two Children were having. "So that was his ploy." Asuka whispered, the venom literally dripping from her words. "Sneak out to rendezvous with your girlfriend?" With as much stealth as she could manage, Asuka began slowly moving through the line of trees that ringed the small park, her path leading to a secluded spot where she could better observe and listen to the intimate conversation of her two rivals.

"Would you like anything for dinner as well?" Shinji's voice sounded amused, hopeful even to Asuka's ears.

Biting her lip, suppressing the natural instinct to hurl abuse at the boy, Asuka watched in silence. <How dare he offer to make her dinner when he refused to make Misato's or mine.> She looked at Shinji, noticing that he was actually smiling. <And if I'm not mistaken, he was actually laughing just a minute ago.> Her cool composure was rapidly diminishing with each passing second.

"It is unnecessary." Rei's calm voice replied.

Blinking in surprise, Asuka watched bewildered as the enigmatic Pilot of Unit 00 refused Shinji's offer to cook for her and simply turned and walked away. <What is wrong with that girl?> Shaking her head in disbelief, she glanced back at Shinji. One look was all it took for her to immediately see how hurt the boy was by the First Children's innocuous words. <Schiesse. He looks even worse than before.>

"Why am I not surprised?" Shinji whispered to himself, unaware of his hidden audience. Rising to his feet, Shinji spared another longing glance at the departing visage of Rei. "I should have expected as much." Smiling at how easily her words had hurt, Shinji sighed. "I suppose I should head home and make something special for Misato-san." His smiled widened slightly. "And Ritsuko-san and Penpen." Walking back in the direction of his home, he looked once again at where Rei had once stood. "Maybe I'll make something Western. Asuka might forgive my rude behaviour if I do that."

Once Shinji had vanished from sight, Asuka stepped out from her hiding place. Moving across to the park bench, she sat down where Shinji had been sitting. "Nothing's ever easy, is it?" Jumping to her feet, Asuka looked at where Rei had walked off to, then to where Shinji had gone. Smiling at the plan that was beginning to take shape, Asuka raced off back towards the apartment, intending to beat Shinji home. "This'll be fun.' She began laughing at how much fun was going to be had. "Even Misato will help with this"

***

NERV Headquarters - Central Dogma

"Misato-san?"

Misato Katsuragi looked up from her nearly completed paperwork to find a sheepish Shinji standing nervously in the doorway. "Shinji-kun?"

"Ayanami told me that you were kind of hungry." Moving tentatively across the office, Shinji placed a foil covered plate on the desk. "I dropped off some for Ritsuko-san as well." He faked a smile as he recalled the incident that had taken place.

His father had been in Ritsuko's office, discussing some sort of system when he had walked in. He had apologised for the interruption and for the fact that he had not even considered making something for the man that he admired, feared and even despised. As was often the case, the man had simply ignored his presence and walked out, leaving Shinji standing there watching him go. Ritsuko had tried to lift his spirits by providing the excuse about how busy the Commander was, but Shinji knew without a doubt the real reason. <Father simply doesn't need me beyond Piloting EVA. And when I'm no longer needed, he'll throw me away again.>

Too hungry to notice the pained expression on Shinji's face, Misato eagerly took the still warm dish and began eating with reckless abandon. "You're a lifesaver Shinji-kun." Her eyes lit up with true joy. "You even added extra curry, just the way I like it." The meal rapidly vanished from sight as Misato devoured the food at an astonishing rate.

His smile changed from pained deception to one of simple happiness. "I'm glad you like it Misato-san." Glancing down at the desk, he noticed the apparent lack of paper that had been covering the desk for the last couple of months. "It looks like your nearly finished."

"Yeah." Tears of joy began flowing down her face. "It's taken me nearly three full days without any sleep to do it, but," Her eye's sparkled with an inner vitality, "I'm almost done."

Realising that his usefulness was at an end, Shinji shrugged and made to leave. "Then I'll see you back at the apart-"

Misato reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Hang on Shin-chan. I won't be long. We can go home together." Smiling at her young charge, Misato watched his face carefully. "We haven't really had much of a chance to talk lately."

"I'd like that Misato-san." Shinji returned Misato's words with one of his rare, true smiles.

***

Ayanami Residence

"Understood." Rei replaced the telephone receiver back onto it's cradle. Staring at the device, her thoughts attempted to understand the confusing conversation she had just participated in.

Walking back to her bed, she climbed in under the thin blanket and stared at the thin beam of light that penetrated through her curtains. <It is confusing.> Reviewing the contents of the conversation, Rei struggled with the strange direction that the dialogue had taken.

"Why does Sohryu wish to speak to me?" Deciding to leave the problem for tomorrow, Rei closed her eyes and allowed her body to recover from the fatigue of the day's exertions.

***

End First Step

Tbc

Proof/Pre Reader wanted. Interested applicants please apply via the email supplied below. Strange as it may sound, I would actually prefer a Shinji/Rei fan. It would help provide a different perspective on things. Timewasters only need apply (yes you did read that correctly). Anyone that takes Fanfiction too seriously shouldn't bother reading my stuff. A superb grasp of the English vernacular would be an advantage (to me). My own skills in grammar, punctuation, vocabulary and prose are fairly substandard. Essentially the hours are bad; the pay is zilch and the benefits non-existent. If this sounds like your kind of job, don't hesitate, apply today.

Authors Post-Rant -

I've nearly been in the Fanfiction writing game a whole year now and decided it was time to test the waters with a Shinji/Asuka story. Although I'm hoping that it will a little different to the normal S/A fics that exist, I can't really promise to break any new ground.

I just finished DN Angel, Matentei Loki Ragnorok, Kimi Ga Nozoumo Eien and Shingetstutan Tsukihime to name a few series and I will undoubtedly draw on these to some degree to hopefully weave a tapestry that will in some small way satisfy the people that have enjoyed some of my other works, and maybe reach a few new readers in the process.

Like most romance stories, it will take a while before anything of substance does occur. So please bear with me. Also, I can't guarantee how long it will be between updates. That kind of depends on the feedback I receive and how things go with work and life in general.

As always, post your reviews here at FFN (Or where ever you find this).

Any other comments, thoughts etc are welcome at -

otaku_dman@yahoo.com.au.

Ja Ne